Nick's 40g Build

This is a discussion on Nick's 40g Build within the Saltwater Journals forums, part of the Aquarium Photography category; -->
did you happen to check your params to be sure everythings still in check? it was food related but always a good idea when ...

Salinity was right at 1.026 where I try to keep it Temp around 79. Didn't do any testing but I did do a 5 gal water change this morning. (this was already on my schedule and I don't bother testing the day before I change the water generally, I'll run some tests tonight to be sure everything is where I expect it) I'm sure I have some nitrates / trites i my water since I had a 2 week or so period when my skimmer wasn't doing anything but I ran some vinegar through it for a few hours 4 days ago and it has been skimming better than ever since. I don't think water quality was the problem here.

i was thinking more along the lines of how long the body was in the tank before you were able to net it out. if it was found quickly there shouldnt be much, if any problems with any params. in larger systems things like that usually go un-noticed as the CUC is all over it.

wow coming along very nice indeed sir!! i love your corals they are great... now i am not going to preach about the mandarin but i wanted to ask is it one of the ORA ones that they started tank raising?? that would make the task a bit easier and the amount of demand on your pods would not be as high...

i wasnt going to say a word, then i thought not doing so is why things like this happen. people see others doing so, and think hey what a pretty fish.. i can do that too. this fish really needs a larger tank not only to thrive, but to survive. honestly eating prepared foods or not it will have your tank cleaned of pods in a few days. like an ant eater needs ants, a mandarin needs pods.
i do not intend to come across rude (theres no way of telling tone online) but that needed to be put out there.

Don't worry about being rude. I will never take offense to honest advice. He is not eating prepared foods just pods and flatworms. My fuge is teeming with all sort of pods and other small critters but is definitely too small to sustain this little guy long term. I figure he has a better chance in my reef than he did at the fish store in a little box with no rock at all. My plan is two fold - try to convert him to frozen food buy using live brine then frozen brine then other frozen foods or culturing pods separately from my tank and introducing them back to the tank periodically.